Judge Dredd Reading Order: Where to Start With Dredd Comics?

I never really understood the Judge Dredd phenomena until I finally sat down to watch 2012’s Dredd.

Suddenly the merciless protector of Mega City law began to make sense and I desperately wanted to explore John Wagner, Alan Grant, and a boatload of other talented creator’s work on Dredd for 2000 AD comics since 1977.

Below is the most direct path I’ve found for collecting and reading Judge Dredd comics. Additionally, if you’re interested in learning more about the creation of Dredd, as well co-creator John Wagner, I highly recommend the podcast 2000 AD Thrillcast, which has an epic 3 part interview with Wagner in a pub.

The Judge Dredd Comic Book Reading Order

2000 AD comics intimidate the heck out of me, what with their original publication outside the states and generally confusing and lengthy timelines. Fortunately, Judge Dredd is quite neatly collected by 2000 AD, and once you get started, the esteemed science fiction house of Dredd is actually quite manageable.

If you’re totally new to Dredd comics, the general consensus among fans is you will be well suited to start with Case Files 5. This includes approximately one year of serialized Dredd stories from the early 80’s, including the essential “Apocalypse War.” While starting 5 volumes in may seem intimidating, the books do a fair amount of recapping and expository panels, meaning you’ll be able to catch up relatively easily, and of course go back to the beginning if you love what you see.

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Note that you have a couple of options reading Judge Dredd: Origins. While Origins explains how we get the dystopian America of Dredd’s comic book universe, it wasn’t actually published until 2006, nearly 30 years after Dredd’s creation in 2000 AD.

So, if you want to start with a modern account of the Dredd origin from co-creators John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, this is a great starting place.

If you really want to start from day one, though, and go back to the late 70’s into the early 80’s, you’ll want to begin with the Case Files collections below!

Essential Judge Dredd Graphic Novels

Judge Dredd Day of Chaos Reading Order

“Day of Chaos” is one of the most frequently recommended recent story arcs from 2000 AD’s Dredd comics, with John Wagner somehow escalating the perpetually apocalyptic stakes with modern sensibilities.

Reading the event outside of the individual issues can be particularly confusing, so I’ve ordered the collected editions below as follows.

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About Dave

Dave is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Comic Book Herald, and also the Boss of assigning himself fancy titles. He's a long-time comic book fan, and can be seen most evenings in Batman pajama pants. Contact Dave @comicbookherald on Twitter or via email at dave@comicbookherald.com.

Reader Interactions

Comments

For me, Judge Dredd is the main man and always will be.
I only started buying 2000AD again about a year ago after a break of many years and it’s great to see that the Dreddverse is still such an integral part of the Galaxy’s Greatest after forty years.
The collected stories in graphic novel form are a nice way to catch up on all the stuff I’d missed.

My favorite Judge Dredd era would have to be the one which started with The Judge Child Saga, because that was when Alan Grant became John Wagner’s full-time Dredd co-writer, the partnership lasting something like seven years, until, as Grant tells it, they were at each other’s throats over whether or not Chopper would die at the end of the Oz story-arc. By the end of that kerfluffle, they’d seen the writing on the wall (no pun intended), and split up.

And, FTR, my favorite of all the artists during Dredd’s 80s prime was Ron Smith. He wasn’t precise and clean like Bolland, but his pictures were prettier than Ezquerra’s or McMahon’s. I consider Smith’s style to be the most well-balanced between draftsmanship & dynamics.

I always thought the Dredd character was the least interesting part of 2000AD and even the Dredd Megazine. What makes the comic so apprealing is that it doesn’t focus specifically on Dredd as a superhero, but rather paints a imersive and incredibly detailed picture of a cyberpunk future with a myriad of living characters from all parts of society. From cops to robbers, the elite rich to beggars on the street, everyone has a story to tell. And I think my favorite story is the gangster tale of Al’s Baby.